Slipping Away
by unicorn13564
Summary: Yaoi One-shot. Horo is critically ill and only 1 person is by his side. As the Ainu’s life slips away from him, he has to decide whether to leave things as they are, or to change a certain shaman’s life forever. Horox? WAY better than it sounds, just kind


**Unicorn13564: ****I guess this idea came to me when I read 'Dust to Dust', this is sort of like that but in many ways not if you know what I mean. Anyway 'Dust to Dust' is a great story and it inspired me loads! ****  
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**Slipping Away ******

**Yaoi One-shot. Horo is critically ill and only 1 person is by his side. As the Ainu's life slips away from him, he has to decide whether to leave things as they are, or to change a certain shaman's life forever. Horox? WAY better than it sounds, just kinda hard to put into words.**

The hyperactive Ainu pranced around, trying to escape the 'crazed' Tao.

"Get back here Usui!" yelled Ren in a playful tone.

"Nev-" Horo stopped as he started to cough. But to his surprise, Ren saw this and seized his 'window of opportunity' getting his friend into a tight headlock.

"Now say Ren rul- Horo, don't choke for fuck sake." Ren released the still coughing shaman, mentally kicking himself for having a hint of concern in his tone. "Horo… Horo what's wrong?"

"N-Nothing…"

The Tao stared at his blue haired companion. _'No… something's wrong with this picture… I know it…'_

Horo felt a hand being placed on his shoulder.

"Tell me…"

"Ren, stop worrying, nothing's wrong, why would there be?"

A few seconds of awkward silence pass, then Horo again starts to cough, only this time, small droplets of blood sputtered out. Ren looked around for some assistance, but found none, so instead, sat Horo down on the sofa and told him to take it easy whilst he went to find Faust.

"Wait…" said Horo, grabbing onto Ren's cloths, "…I don't want Faust…"

"Why not?"

"…He can't help me now… _no-one_ can…"

The Tao sat beside him, waiting for an explanation… finally, he got one. "Ren, I've known about my illness for some time now…"

"_Illness…? _What _illness?"_

Horo sighed. "Its some sort of disease that will _eventually_ kill me, I can't remember the name of it, _anyway_, I was told that a long time ago… and now… I suppose its nearing my time…"

"Do the others know?"

"No, only you, I'll tell the others… _eventually._"

"…_Eventually? _Why not now while your still _alive!_"

"_Relax_ Ren, it's written in my will."

"Y-Your _will!_ Fuckin hell Horo, how long have you _had_ this thing!"

"I just told you, _a long time._"

"…Can't they treat it or something…?"

"No, I've been living on burred time for almost a year now."

Ren could feel his heart breaking, being ripped apart fragment by fragment after each word the Ainu spoke. Here, sitting next to him, was a young teen that was going to _die._ He was practically a _dead man_, and there was nothing he could do about it, _nothing!_

Ren stopped his thoughts dead in their tracks when Horo started coughing again.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah… I'm…"

Ren's heart shattered into a million pieces as the Ainu fell to the floor, choking and sputtering, coughing up _massive_ amounts of blood.

"Right, that's it Horo, I'm getting Faust!"

Horo grabbed Ren's leg, "N-No! I'm f-fine! I don't want Faust!"

"Then what _do _you want because I'm not going to stand by and let you _die!_"

"…What I want… you could never give me…"

"Oh, and what would that be, _children!"_

"No… your-"

Horo put his hand over his mouth as he started choking on the very air he'd inhaled.

Ren bent down, searching for an answer as to what to do. "…Horo…" he whispered.

Suddenly the door flew open, and in walked a laughing Yoh, Ryu and Manta.

The three stopped when they saw the two shaman on the floor, and rushed to Horo's side, asking questions.

"What happened?" asked Yoh.

"Are you alright, should I get Faust?" asked Manta.

"Why is there blood on the floor…?" asked Ryu.

Horo sat and listened as the questions began, and since Ren was unable to answer, it pressured the Ainu more.

"JUST BACK OFF!"

Ren blinked countless times, yet his world still kept going blurry. His first thoughts were 'wow, do I need glasses?' then Manta pointed out to everyone what Ren was doing.

"Hey… Ren's crying…"

"Huh?" Horo looked up at the Tao, his eyes red and watery.

"What…?" Ren put his finger to his eye and felt the wetness of the tears that had gradually formed. "…Shit…"

"…That's the first time I've ever seen you cry Ren…" smiled Horo, happy to know that Ren cared.

Ren couldn't help it, he couldn't hold them back any longer, so he just let them fall, it was no use trying to hide it anymore anyway.

Later that day, Horo slept silently in his room as Ren sat next to him; he didn't dare leave his side.

Yoh and the others were in the living-room, and every now and then, faint sniffles could be heard.

Faust had come to check up on Horo; apparently he'd known about it, he was the one who told him about his illness. Faust said Horo knew about his time, and he'd advised him to use it wisely. It was true, there was nothing he could do… there was nothing anyone could do, only sit back and watch as the Ainu slowly slipped away from them.

Horo's eyes flickered open, and as the room came into focus, he was slightly amazed to find Ren sat next to him, his head resting on the side of the bed as he slept. Horo watched him, and thought of the day he first found out about his illness.

Horo had been playing soccer with some kids on the way back from a walk, and he fell over, injuring his elbow. He went to the hospital about it as it hurt so bad, and they told him he very badly bruised it. After he'd had it checked over again, Horo had his arm put in a sling and on his way out, he suddenly felt hot all over, so he leant against a wall for support, panting heavily.

"Excuse me," asked a nurse, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah… fine…" he'd lied. It was strange to him, he'd never felt so over-heated before in his life, and it wasn't even that stuffy in the hospital.

Horo stood up straight, and continued his walk towards the exit, only for his legs to give way, causing him to collapse onto the hard, cold floor.

He was later told by Faust that he had some sort of illness that was going to kill him.

"Now, listen carefully," Faust had ordered, "The symptoms to this illness are: hot and cold flushes, limbs giving way, bad headaches, temporary blindness and slight seizures, but," he'd warned him, "the time when you will know the end is near, is when you start coughing up massive amounts of blood, by then, you will be lucky if you live for another few months."

Horo had taken it better than Faust or any other staff member had expected. He remembered laughing abut it, joking that he should get laid. Inside though, Horo was hurting, he was hurting big time. It was as if someone had just stabbed him right through the heart.

After that, Horo had walked around for a while, going to old hangouts that he and the gang used to go too, remembering things he'd forgotten, but the thing that hurt him the most, the thing that cut him the deepest, was the fact that his time with a certain shaman was limited.

Horo drifted back into reality, only to be met by yellow cat-like eyes.

The Ainu smiled. _'How long had he been watching him?'_

"Feel better?" Asked Ren,

"Much." lied Horo.

He felt _awful._ He kept getting rushes of dizziness and he felt all cold, even though he was wrapped in more than one blanket. He also felt quite sore, and his throat seemed to be on fire. He found it strange how he'd managed to cope with these symptoms for so long, and only now, when they have all found out, does it seem like its all taking place, even though he's had these same symptoms before… only now does it seem to hurt the most…

Horo felt a hand enclose around his and looked to see Ren smiling at him.

With the thought of Ren watching over him, he slowly closed his eyes.

"_Horo!" _

The Ainu's eyes shot open as the Tao clutched his hand.

"Cool it Ren, I'm only sleeping!"

Horo chuckled slightly and closed his eyes once more. It was nice to know that Ren cared about him.

Ren watched as the Ainu slept peacefully, and despite his want to stay and watch over him, he silently left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

He walked into the room to find 8 pairs of eyes staring at him.

_(Yoh, Manta, Ryu, Lyserg, Anna, Pirika, Faust and Chocolove.) _

Suddenly Pirika burst into tears as she ran up to Ren, clutching his collar and pulling him closer, her eyes red from crying so much.

"Is he alright? What did he say? Why didn't he say anything!"

Ren simply stood there, his hair covering most of his face.

Pirika's eyes widened as she spotted a single tear roll down his cheek. "R-Ren...?"

"H-He's dying Pirika... he's really dying..."

Pirika pulled the Tao into a hug as he stood there, sharp little gasps escaping his mouth as the thought of loosing Horo finally dawned on him.

With that, everyone moved closer, bringing each other into a group hug. Even Anna seemed upset by the sudden news.

A few hours eventually passed, even though it seemed like a millennium of outbursts of tears, followed by silence.

Finally the question that had been bugging Ren throughout the entire time of silence, escaped his mouth. "So, are we just gonna leave him in there to _die?_"

"There is nothing we can do…"

"That's not the point, we can do _something!_ You all act like he's already _dead!_ He may have a few days, maybe even _weeks left_! Not _second's_ god damn it! Now I dunno about you guys, but I'm gonna go sit by Horo and actually _talk_ to him!"

With what he wanted to say being already said, Ren stormed back into the room of the Ainu, slamming the door behind him.

He instantly regretted the door slamming, but was relieved when he saw that he had not disturbed the slumbering companion. Ren sat there for a moment, thinking of what to say, yet nothing came to him. "…Hey… listen Horo, I know you could hear us talking in there, but just so you know… _augh_ what the _hell_ am I doing! If I'm lucky your _asleep_ and not _dead!_ Fuck Horo, _why?_"

Ren couldn't help himself, he'd contained these emotions for so long, but now it was time to tell the truth about why he couldn't, _wouldn't_ just stand by and let the Ainu die. "_Why_ Horo! Why do you have to _die_? I can't stand it! This pain and suffering I have to endure, watching you lie here, every breath having the possibility of being your last! Its _torture!_" The tears flowed freely now as he grabbed Horo's hand, resting his head on it. "Its so _hard _for me, watching the one person I _love_, the _one_ person I actually care about… _die_… who will I fight with in the mornings when I get up…? Who will I steal glances at…? Who the hell will I dream about!" Ren jolted up as the hand he was holding squeezed his.

"It's ok…" The boy looked upon the smiling Ainu, their eyes locked on one-another. "The truth is… I-"

The Tao stood up, his eyes wide with terror as the young teen before him started coughing uncontrollably once more, more patches of blood appearing.

"H-Horo!"

Horo felt so week… so tired…

Ren watched as Horo smiled at him, and stretched out his hand, attempting to grab his… but to Ren's terror, his world stopped turning as the hand fell limp before it could reach him.

Tears flowed down Ren's face as he looked at the Ainu; his body limp as if he were relaxing. There was no rising and falling of the chest, no cute smile either, it was all so… empty…

Pirika covered her mouth from shock as everyone heard Ren shout out Horo's name… it was certain now, death had finally claimed its latest victim, the one called Horokeu Usui.

Yoh slowly entered the room of the now deceased, to find Ren holding the Ainu in his arms, begging him to wake up.

"…It's ok…" said Yoh, and placed a hand on the Tao's shoulder, only for it to be shrugged off.

"Get away from me Yoh!" hissed Ren, pulling Horo's body even closer to him, "You didn't care, none of you did! You all just sat there… waiting for him to draw his last breath!"

"Ren, I understand your upset, but we did care-"

"_Did?_ So you don't now?"

Yoh sighed, and decided to ignore his last comment. "We just thought that you wanted some time alone with him…"

Yoh waited for him to reply, but when he didn't get a response, just sighed again and quietly left the room.

The Tao sat there, he'd lost all track of time, but he knew he'd been there for quite a while now, for the corpse in his arms was slightly stiff and cold.

He didn't even bother to look when Manta entered the room.

"Hey Ren… some guys' here and he's about to read out Horo's will if you're interested…"

Ren's eyes widened. _'Was that it? Was that why they couldn't care less? …Was that why they let him die!'_

"Please Sir; Horokeu Usui requested your presents in particular."

Ren looked towards the door to see a middle-aged man dressed in black.

"…Fine…" mumbled Ren, and reluctantly left Horo's body on the bed and left the room.

"Now, as you all know, I am about to read the will of Horokeu Usui. He requested the presents of a 'Tao Ren' in particular. It is my duty to read the will as written."

The man cleared his throat, then began to read the will.

"_Firstly, hello to whoever got stuck with the job of reading this, hey, how much do you get paid…?"_

The man paused for a second, and then continued to read.

"_Oh, sorry, guess you guys are dying to know what I left ya. Anyway, Manta, your always so brainy and actually enjoy reading, so I left you all my books, comics, and any other reading materials I have. Yoh, you were a great friend to me, so you get my food- which is whale blubber by the way, hope you enjoy it. Faust… you were a tough one, you helped me through the most difficult times too… hmm, is it ok that I left you my room…? Ahem- anyway, moving on, Ryu, you've come a long way from when I first met you, so I leave you with some money to buy a special sword I put on hold for you in the shop down town, Anna, I know your gonna have a heck of a time torturing Yoh with the training gear I left ya, sorry Yoh! And Chocolove, underneath the floorboards next to the wardrobe is a box full of joke books, you should read them… Ok, Pirika, I know your gonna miss me, but don't worry, I leave you the ikupasi you made me and the gear I brought from the North… and Ren… I leave you my most precious item… take care of my snowboard and headband for me! Now this guy who is reading is gonna hand this to you right after this sentence so you can read on, and anyone who looks without Ren's permission will be haunted every night for the rest of their days!"_

The man handed the paper to Ren, who glanced at everyone, curiosity placed on their faces.

Ren carefully red the writing on the paper that was clearly written by Horo.

"_Hi Ren, I was gonna let the dude read this out, but then I thought you'd be all embarrassed and I wouldn't wonna put you in an awkward position or anything. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I am sorry I didn't tell you about my illness, and the fact that Faust knew, but don't blame him, I told him not to tell anyone. But the truth is… I care about you Ren, I know I pick my moments to tell you, but I really care about you… more than a friend should if you catch my drift… always watching over you, Horokeu Usui."_

Ren watched as small droplets of water appeared on the writing, smudging it a little.

"…Thank you…" he whispered, and wiped his eyes. "I love you too, Horo."

Ren walked down the streets and stopped at a main road. It had been a few months since Horo's death, and he was doing… ok… not to bad actually.

Ren put his foot out into the road, and stopped, his body going stiff as a board, for across the road from him, stood the spirit of none-other than Horokeu Usui. Suddenly a lorry passed, blocking his view from Horo for a split second, but that split second was all Horo needed to disappear.

Ren smiled, remembering the words written on the will.

'_Always watching over you… Horokeu Usui.'_

**Unicorn13564: …So… you crying yet…? XD Lol. Do you know how _painful_ it was writing this shit! I, a Horo/HoroRen fan, writing the _death_ of my fave character! How _twisted_ can I get! Ahem- anyway, plz review.**


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